Week 5: Reading Diary A

For this weeks reading diary, I decided to read into one of the India units. Reading the first part of Folktales of Bengal was very interesting. The first story that really caught my attention this week was the Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled. After starting this story, it really seemed kind of familiar to another story I believe I read last week in the Indian fairy tales. Both were about a king who had a number a wives that were trying to get pregnant. In this particular story, the king was told if he plucked seven mangoes, and fed them to his seven wives, they would soon bear children. I did really enjoy the change in the story when the king decided to marry a Rakshasi. After reading about these indian demons in Epics of India, I was intrigued to move on. After this change in the story, it got somewhat morbid. The Rakshasi of course wanted the king to prove his love for her in the most terrible of ways.

The second story that captured my attention was the Ghost-Brahman. Of course I always enjoy a good ghost story. In all honesty, I didn't know if this story would be like the ghost stories I like or something entirely different. It was a pretty crazy story, and one I did not picture when starting the story. It was a good change of pace though. The ghost actually came in and took over everything that the Brahman had called his own. Luckily in the end, the Brahman did get his wife, his mother, and his house back. It might have taken a lot of time, but he got it back.

(Mango tree. Robert Mclean)